RESUMO
In 1972-73, 48 hospital staff members were tested selectively for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg); 4 (8.3%) were found to be HBsAg-positive. In 1974-75, 1415 staff members were tested routinely before employment and at periodic health examination; 25 (1.8%) were found to be HBsAg-positive. Of the HBsAg-positive staff members 55.2% were Asians, this proportion being significantly (P less than 0.05) greater than that of any other ethnic group, and 31.0% were southern Europeans. Nurses and laboratory technologists were the largest professional groups among the HBsAg-positive staff, each accounting for 20.7%. Our results indicate that it is impractical to carry out routine testing of hospital staff for HBsAg. Selective testing and restriction from work in their units is proposed for staff of the renal and peritoneal dialysis units, the emergency department and the intravenous team and dietary staff who handle food directly.
Assuntos
Portador Sadio , Antígenos de Superfície da Hepatite B , Hepatite B/imunologia , Programas de Rastreamento , Recursos Humanos em Hospital , Adulto , Idoso , Feminino , Hepatite B/prevenção & controle , Hepatite B/transmissão , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-IdadeRESUMO
Of 426 hospital staff tested for hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBS) by the radioimmunoassay method 57 (13.4%) had positive results. Laboratory staff had the highest prevalence, followed by nurses, and both values were significantly higher than that of administrative staff. Clerical staff working in laboratories were at the same risk for hepatitis B as general-duty nurses. Significantly more staff with anti-HBS had a history of hepatitis (19.3%) compared with staff without anti-HBS (79%), and significantly more staff with a history of hepatitis had anti-HBS (25.6%) compared with staff without such a history (12.0%). History of blood transfusions was not related to prevalence of anti-HBS. The risk for hepatitis B is greater in hospital staff who are in direct contact with patients or handle patients' blood and other specimens. However, contact with patients is less important than contact with patients' blood and other specimens.
Assuntos
Anticorpos Antivirais , Hepatite B/imunologia , Recursos Humanos em Hospital , Transfusão de Sangue , Feminino , Humanos , Laboratórios , MasculinoRESUMO
Radioimmunoassay for the detection of hepatitis B antigen has been accepted in many diagnostic laboratories now. The question of nonspecific positives has always been a matter of controversy. Two improved radioimmunoassay tests, namely Ausria II-125 by Abbott Laboratories and a radioimmunoassay method by Connaught Laboratories Limited (Hebria), were compared with the original Ausria 125I. Included in the comparison was the reversed passive hemagglutination test (Auscell, Abbott). Five hundred sera of clinical patients were tested. Fifty-five or 11% were found to have hepatitis B antigen. Three tests, Ausria 125I, Ausria II-125, and Hebria showed the same number of positive sera, whereas Auscell missed one. However, Ausria 125I indicated two additional false positives. Dilution experiments, however, indicated that Ausria II-125 and Hebria were the most sensitive tests, with the reversed passive hemaglutination showing the least sensitivity. Therefore, the new Ausria II-125 and the Hebria radioimmunoassay tests are preferable in view of their sensitivity and specificity.
Assuntos
Testes de Hemaglutinação , Antígenos da Hepatite B/isolamento & purificação , Radioimunoensaio , Sangue/microbiologia , Testes de Fixação de Complemento , Contraimunoeletroforese , Estudos de Avaliação como Assunto , HumanosRESUMO
Fifty-eight adult patients with acute leukemia were screened at the onset of the disease for hepatitis B antigen (HBSAg) in the serum, and during the course of the disease for the development of hepatitis B. One patient had a positive test for HBSAg by the radioimmunoassay technique only at the time leukemia was diagnosed; this patient had received transfusions some years before. In six patients icteric hepatitis B developed; five recovered completely and one died of leukemia during the course of hepatitis. All patients in whom hepatitis developed had received transfusions as a part of supportive therapy for leukemia. The hepatitis risk for patients who received transfusions of blood found to be negative for HBSAg by counterimmunoelectrophoresis was 0.26 percent per unit of blood administered.
Assuntos
Antígenos da Hepatite B/análise , Hepatite/complicações , Leucemia/complicações , Doença Aguda , Adolescente , Adulto , Idoso , Transfusão de Sangue , Ciclofosfamida/uso terapêutico , Citarabina/uso terapêutico , Feminino , Seguimentos , Humanos , Imunoeletroforese , Leucemia/tratamento farmacológico , Leucemia Linfoide/complicações , Leucemia Linfoide/tratamento farmacológico , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Compostos de Nitrosoureia/uso terapêutico , Radioimunoensaio , Remissão Espontânea , Estatística como Assunto , Vincristina/uso terapêuticoRESUMO
Blood units for transfusion are screened routinely in Ontario for the presence of hepatitis B antigen (HB-Ag) by counter-immunoelectrophoresis (CIEP). Since the radioimmunoassay (RIA) method is more sensitive for this purpose we used it to test blood units delivered to the hospital's Renal Dialysis Unit in order to determine if HB-Ag-carrying blood donors were being missed by the less sensitive CIEP method.Out of the 606 blood units tested, eight were found to contain HB-Ag, an incidence of 13 out of 1000 donors. This finding indicates that the counter-immunoelectrophoresis method is insufficiently sensitive as a safe screening method for detection of hepatitis antigen.
